[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2925-2929]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        MOVING AHEAD FOR PROGRESS IN THE 21ST CENTURY--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.


                  Remembering Congressman Donald Payne

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a long-time 
friend from New Jersey. It is a sad day for all of us from New Jersey 
who knew Congressman Donald Payne from north New Jersey, and I pay 
tribute to my colleague who died this morning after a battle with colon 
cancer.
  Congressman Payne was the first African American from New Jersey to 
be elected to Congress. He was a trailblazer and a fine leader, one of 
the finest our State has ever known. For more than two decades, 
Congressman Payne served New Jersey with distinction, but the whole 
world benefited from his leadership. He was a proud son of Newark and 
became an expert on foreign relations and led efforts to restore 
democracy and human rights

[[Page 2926]]

around the world, including places as far away from one another as 
northern Ireland and Sudan. President Clinton chose Congressman Payne 
to accompany him on his historic tour of Africa in 1998.
  The Congressman also worked hard. He secured more than $100 million 
to treat victims of malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, and stopped 
the spread of these diseases in Africa's poorest nations.
  Three years ago, against the State Department's advice, Congressman 
Payne went to Somalia to see the turmoil there for himself, narrowly 
escaping with his life when insurgents launched a mortar attack near 
his airplane when he was leaving.
  The Congressman also helped with passage of a resolution declaring 
the killings in Darfur as genocide and raising global awareness of 
these travesties.
  At home Congressman Payne was a tireless advocate for his 
constituents. He brought significant economic development to counties 
in New Jersey, including Essex, Hudson, and Union. He was a former 
schoolteacher and was a leader on education. He worked hard to close 
the achievement gap, with making college more affordable and bringing 
more equity to school funding. Congressman Donald Payne was a man of 
conscience and conviction.
  I knew him for many years, and I was always struck by his soft-spoken 
demeanor, and that kind of made him a rarity in politics. But 
Congressman Payne knew he didn't need to raise his voice; his ideas 
were powerful enough. The Congressman put it best when he said: ``There 
is a lot of dignity in being able to achieve things without having to 
create rapture.''
  As I mentioned, Donald Payne was a teacher in the Newark public 
schools, and Newark was a poverty-stricken city. His mission was to 
inspire young people to use education in their lives to achieve 
opportunity. The people of New Jersey sent him to Washington for the 
first time in 1988, and they continued sending him back by overwhelming 
margins for the next 22 years. He became an inspiration to many, 
including members of his family who followed him into careers in public 
service.
  But most of all, Donald Payne was an inspiration to the people he 
served. He gave them hope. He gave them some ideas of what they could 
make of their lives. His voice sounded important and deliberate enough 
to convince people to try harder, and he did succeed many times.
  In 1988, during his first campaign for the House, Congressman Payne 
told a reporter: ``I want to be a role model for the kids I talk to on 
the street corners.'' He used to see a lot of them. He worked hard 
within his congressional district. He said: ``I want to see there are 
no barriers to achievement.''
  Donald Payne achieved this goal. An entire generation of New 
Jerseyans has come of age knowing and respecting Congressman Donald 
Payne. He has undoubtedly inspired many young New Jerseyans to enter 
public service, and I expect we will one day see some of them walking 
the Halls of Congress and following in Donald Payne's footsteps, but 
today these Halls feel emptier without his presence.
  I am going to miss Don Payne. We will mourn his absence from our 
lives, but we will also take comfort in the knowledge that his legacy 
will endure for a long time to come, way beyond his life. We thank him 
at this time for all of the good he did and that he brought to our 
people and our State.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.


                         Indiana Tornado Damage

  Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I wish to speak as in morning business on a 
matter that affects a lot of Hoosiers. I do so with a great sense of 
heartfelt condolence to all who have suffered from the tragic storm and 
tornadoes that swept across the southern part of our State this past 
Friday, gratitude for all of those who responded in such a wonderful 
way to address this situation, and deep pride for the people of Indiana 
for how they have come together to help one another. Mother Nature's 
unforgiving force Friday afternoon, changed the lives of many Hoosiers. 
Imagine, if you would, a stretch of land extending for nearly 50 miles, 
between a quarter of a mile and a half mile wide, with everything in 
its path destroyed by tornadoes that touched down and moved with such 
unimaginable force.
  Most of us from the Midwest are used to tornadoes that usually jump 
around and take out a shed here, a barn there, maybe a home, in perhaps 
a short stretch of space, but I have never seen--and most have never 
seen--a tornado that touches down and stays down for miles and miles 
with 175 mile-per-hour winds crushing everything in its path. On 
Sunday, I flew over the path of the tornadoes and walked on the ground 
and saw a site of total destruction. Every home and every business in 
that path destroyed. Every open field was strewn with debris. Some 
debris carried for miles before it was deposited. Every tree was 
stripped bare and flattened, every car or truck within that path 
damaged with either softball-sized hail or turned upside down by 175 
mile-per-hour winds. A house miraculously still intact was picked up 
off its foundation and moved 100 yards east.
  Several rural towns--small rural towns in southern Indiana--were 
totally destroyed by the force of nature. A high school of more than 
1,100 students now lies in complete shambles. Buses stationed at the 
schools and cars were hurled into the buildings across the street. An 
entire family--mom, dad, and children--were killed just because the 
storm hit seconds before they were able to reach the steps leading down 
to the basement.
  Yet, through all of these devastating images, I saw and heard 
firsthand stories of heroism, generosity and resolve that I will always 
remember:
  Two schoolbus drivers who made a split-second decision to turn around 
and get the kids off the bus and into a shelter--both of those buses 
were totally destroyed just moments later. The first responders, local 
police, fire, and rescue teams who searched for victims, helped the 
injured and did everything they could to offer support in light of this 
tragedy; neighbors who rushed in to help the injured, citizens from 
nearby towns and counties who poured into the area offering food and 
drink and shelter; people saying: Do you have a place to stay? Do you 
have something to eat? What can we do to help? Former strangers became 
immediate friends.
  On Sunday morning, as I walked through what was the town of 
Henryville, I witnessed a remarkable scene: displaced homeowners 
picking through the rubble of their homes trying to recover lost 
memories and precious keepsakes; one man planting an American flag on 
the rubble of his former home. I was deeply moved by the indomitability 
of the American spirit, a spirit still so alive and well in a time of 
tragedy.
  Soon the first responders will be returning home, if they haven't 
already, from a job well done, to wait for the next call to action 
while the State and Federal assessment teams begin the process of 
restoration. Piece by piece, day by day, the people of Indiana will 
rebuild their homes, their churches, their schools, and their 
communities destroyed by these tornadoes. One woman captured the 
feeling of Hoosiers' best when she turned to me while standing on the 
remains of what used to be her home and said: We will go on. We will 
recover. We will make it right again.
  I am asking all Americans to keep Hoosiers, Kentuckians, and all of 
the victims of these tragic storms which raced through the Midwest in 
their thoughts and prayers. I ask all Americans to remember how quickly 
life can change, but also to remember the American spirit which compels 
us to reach out and help a neighbor in trouble.
  I am going to continue to work with Indiana Governor Daniels, his 
homeland security team, the administration, and FEMA to make sure 
Hoosiers and the communities impacted are receiving the help they need.
  We will never be able to replace the lives of those lost from Mother 
Nature's destruction, but Hoosiers will

[[Page 2927]]

come together to rebuild one day at a time. It is the Hoosier way, and 
thank goodness it is still the American way.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, what is the order now?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is considering the Transportation 
bill.
  Mr. KERRY. Thank you, Mr. President.


                         Talk Has Consequences

  Mr. President, several of us in the Senate have run for the office of 
President of the United States. Two of us have been our party's 
nominees, and dozens of others have played major roles in tough 
campaigns. So none of us in the Senate are strangers to the rough and 
tumble of American politics. I think we all understand on a personal 
level what the humorist said at the turn of the century when he wrote: 
``Politics ain't beanbag.'' One has to have a thick skin and a strong 
backbone to survive in this business. One has to be able to take a 
punch and deliver one, and we all understand that.
  So it is not as an innocent that I come to the floor today to say 
that I was troubled--deeply troubled--to read an op-ed in this 
morning's Washington Post by the likely Republican nominee for 
President Mitt Romney. It was an attack on the administration's Iran 
policy, and it was as inaccurate as it was aggressive.
  Every candidate for the Oval Office has the right to criticize the 
President. But, particularly this week, while Prime Minister Netanyahu 
is in Washington meeting with the administration to determine the road 
forward that might mean the difference between war or a diplomatic 
solution--particularly at that moment when so much is on the line, we 
all ought to remember that the nuclear issue with Iran is deadly 
serious business, and it ought to invite sobriety and serious-minded 
solutions, not sloganeering and fiction and sound bites.
  I don't think we should allow Iran to become another party's applause 
line on the Presidential stump. Talk has consequences, particularly 
when it is talk about war, and talk of war only helps Iran and others 
at this moment, by increasing the price of Iranian crude oil that pays 
for its nuclear program. To create false differences with the President 
just to score political points does nothing to move Iran off a 
dangerous nuclear course. Worst of all, Governor Romney's op-ed does 
not even do readers the courtesy of describing how a President Romney 
would, in fact, do anything different from what President Obama and 
this administration has already done. So if we are going to disagree, 
let's at least disagree responsibly--and honestly.
  So examine the op-ed I am talking about. From the very opening 
paragraphs, Mr. Romney garbles history. Going back to the Iranian 
revolution, he calls President Carter ``feckless,'' saying he did 
nothing for over a year while Iranian revolutionaries held Americans 
captive. In fact, it was the months of President Carter's negotiations, 
leading up to an all-night session of negotiation--the very night 
before the inauguration of President Reagan on January 20--that 
actually freed the hostages.
  I bring up the hostage crisis for another reason, because when those 
helicopters went down in the desert during the failed rescue attempt in 
1980, the United States not only lost the opportunity to get our people 
back sooner but President Carter fundamentally lost any chance he had 
at reelection. Notwithstanding that reality, notwithstanding the lesson 
of Desert One and those helicopters that crashed and the failed 
mission--notwithstanding that--President Obama, whom Governor Romney 
calls ``the most feckless President since Carter,'' threw that lesson 
out the window, knowing if he attempted to go into Pakistan and failed 
he would probably lose his chance at reelection--notwithstanding that, 
he authorized the gutsy and dangerous raid in Pakistan that finally 
killed Osama bin Laden.
  Despite everything that could have gone wrong with that raid, the 
mission was ordered with confidence, executed with courage, and the man 
who plotted the September 11 attacks was finally held accountable for 
the murder of thousands of Americans. George W. Bush may have said, 
``Wanted: Dead or Alive,'' but it was President Obama who delivered.
  I don't know if Governor Romney has checked the definition of the 
word ``feckless'' lately, but that raid ain't it.
  The rest of Romney's argument doesn't get any better. In fact, he 
goes on to propose action after action that President Obama has already 
taken. Just look at the analysis. Let me read the first sentences from 
an article in today's New York Times:

       To rein in Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Mitt Romney says he 
     would conduct naval exercises in the Persian Gulf. . . . He 
     would try to ratchet up Security Council sanctions on Iran, 
     targeting its Revolutionary Guards, and the country's central 
     bank and other financial institutions. And if Russia and 
     China do not go along, he says, the United States should team 
     up with other willing governments to put such punitive 
     measures in place. As it turns out--

  And this is part of the quote--

       As it turns out, that amounts to what President Obama is 
     doing.

  Ambassador Nick Burns, President Bush's lead negotiator on Iran, 
said:

       The attacks on Obama basically say, ``He's weak and we're 
     strong.'' But when you look at the specifics, you don't see 
     any difference.

  That is a quote.
  So let's go point by point through the Romney plan. He writes he 
would proceed with missile defenses to protect Iran. He ignores the 
fact that one of the very first things the Obama administration did was 
to issue its plans for the phased adaptive approach--so that we would 
be able to sooner protect our friends and allies against the Iranian 
missile threat and to provide increasing levels of capability as the 
technology advances. During the debate over the New START treaty, the 
Senate heard in great detail--including from the Commander of the 
Strategic Command and the Director of the Missile Defense Agency--how 
that particular system was going to work and how the administration 
planned to proceed with it. In fact, the President sent the Senate a 
letter affirming his commitment to missile defense, and over the past 
year he has stuck by that promise.
  So then Romney goes on to say that President Obama doesn't understand 
the seriousness of the threat from nuclear terrorism. Again, just look 
at the record: For the first time, the President set as a national goal 
securing all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within 4 
years. He won international endorsement of that effort at the 2010 
Nuclear Security Summit.
  Last year alone, the Department of Energy removed or eliminated over 
250 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from places such as Ukraine, 
Belarus, Serbia, and Kazakhstan. In the budget request before Congress, 
the administration plans to eliminate highly enriched uranium from nine 
countries, including Vietnam, Ukraine, and Mexico.
  That is clearly an administration and leader who understands the 
danger of nuclear material, far more than any effort previously.
  Then Romney lays out the single greatest willful avoidance of facts 
in his article. He calls for ever-tightening sanctions on Iran.
  I don't know what he thinks has been going on around here for the 
last few years, but when President Obama took office Iran was in the 
ascendancy. As the Vice President used to say when he chaired the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Freedom wasn't on the march; Iran 
was on the march. Its reach through proxies such as Hezbollah 
threatened the United States, its allies, and the region, and 
particularly, obviously, Israel.
  The international community was divided; diplomacy--both multilateral 
and bilateral--was stalled. But in June 2010, with a decisive push from 
President Obama, the United Nations put in place the most comprehensive 
and biting international sanctions the Iranian Government has ever 
faced--imposing restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities, ballistic 
missile program, conventional military exports to Iran, Iranian banks 
and financial transactions, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

[[Page 2928]]

  What is more, in coordination with allies such as the European Union, 
Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and others, the Obama 
administration put in place additional measures, ratcheting up pressure 
on the country's petrochemical industry, oil and gas industry, and 
financial sector. Recently, Europe announced the ban of oil imports 
from Iran, which will further pressure Iran's economy, and that has 
come with significant leadership effort and diplomacy by Secretary 
Clinton and by the administration and Secretary Geithner.
  That is just on the multilateral front. President Obama also worked 
closely with Congress to pass the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
Accountability, and Investment Act, which strengthened existing U.S. 
sanctions. He made it harder for the Iranian Government to buy refined 
petroleum and to modernize its oil and gas sector. Recently, we imposed 
tough new sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran. So one doesn't have to 
take my word for it.
  Let me quote Iran's President Ahmadinejad, who is the one feeling the 
pressure. Here is what he said last fall: ``Our banks cannot make 
international transactions anymore.''
  Today, all of these sanctions are beginning to bite. Iran is now 
virtually cut off from large parts of the international financial 
system.
  Almost $60 billion in energy-related projects in Iran have been put 
on hold or discontinued. Iran is starting to lose oil sales to key 
customers in Europe and Asia. All you have to do is look at the front 
page of today's newspapers and read the stories of Iran hastily running 
around and looking for additional people to buy their oil. In fact, 
they have lost customers in Asia. Those losses could reach up to 40 
percent of its daily sales, according to the International Energy 
Agency.
  Banking sanctions have prevented several of Iran's customers from 
paying for its petroleum products, leaving the Central Bank short of 
hard currency and driving down the unofficial foreign exchange rate by 
40 percent in a single month.
  Mr. Romney needs to understand what is going on if he wants to run 
for President. Just yesterday the deputy chief of the Iranian 
Revolutionary Guard Corps was quoted as saying, ``The regime is at the 
height of isolation.'' This is the Revolutionary Guard speaking:

       The regime is at the height of isolation and in the midst 
     of a technological, scientific and economic siege. We are not 
     in a situation of imaginary threats and sanctions. Threats 
     and sanctions against us are effectively being pursued.

  Iran is also divided internally and isolated diplomatically like 
never before. Iran's most important ally, Syria, is facing regime 
collapse, which a former director of Israel's Mossad recently said 
could be a bigger strategic setback for Iran than a military strike 
against them. That came from the former director of Israel's Mossad.
  To talk about Israel for a second, we all ought to remember that 
President Obama has provided record amounts of security funding to help 
Israel maintain its qualitative military edge. Prime Minister Netanyahu 
has spoken of President Obama's ironclad commitment to Israel's 
security. He said, ``Our security cooperation is unprecedented, and 
President Obama has backed those words with deeds.''
  So when you add it all up, Mitt Romney evidently is trying to ignore, 
twist, and distort the administration's policy. For what purpose? For 
his own gain--simply to try to drive a wedge in American politics. It 
seems to be that the strategy of his campaign is to just say anything. 
It does not matter what it is based on--just say it. Put it out there 
whether or not it is true.
  I might say that I think that is exactly what the American people are 
tired of and fed up with, what has turned them off of all of our 
politics, and what threatens the quality of our democracy in this great 
country of ours.
  We should be crystal clear. Yes, we have to prevent Iran from 
acquiring a nuclear weapon. That is not a question of containment and 
never has been; it is a question of prevention, outright denial of this 
ability. That is why President Obama again made that clear in his 
public comments yesterday, even as he builds pressure for a diplomatic 
solution.
  I think it is appropriate to have a President who first seeks a 
diplomatic solution. I am one of those here in the Senate who, together 
with a few others of our generation, served in Vietnam--very few--and 
with one or two, I think, who served in World War II: Senator Inouye, 
Senator Lautenberg, maybe Senator Cochran. I don't recall if there are 
still more here. But the fact is that I think anybody who has served in 
a war first wants leaders who try to find if there is a way to make 
that war inevitable, if it has to happen, and at least turns over every 
stone possible to find out if diplomacy can find a solution to a 
problem.
  President Obama has reiterated that all of the options are on the 
table. In its long history, Iran has had many amazing moments and has 
provided great accomplishments, culturally and in other ways, to its 
history and to all of us. This regime, many people believe, is 
something different and some hope might even become something different 
at some point in time, although it has a long way to go to evidence 
that. But President Obama has emphasized--in his approach, he has said, 
``I don't bluff.'' I am convinced, as I think all of us are, that the 
President means exactly what he says, that Iran cannot have this 
weapon. I think you can ask Osama bin Laden what President Obama means 
when he says that he means what he says.
  I know we are going to have tough debates going forward. That is 
appropriate. And we are going to have a bruising election season. That 
is OK if it is on the up-and-up, if it is really about real differences 
and real issues. And we ought to have those tough fights. That has 
proven to be how we decide the big issues in the United States. We 
always have. But let's have an honest debate, not a contrived one, not 
a phony set of propositions that have nothing to do with the reality of 
the situation. The American people deserve more than that.
  Governor Romney can debate the man in the White House instead of 
inventing straw men on the op-ed pages of our newspapers. He ought to 
be armed with facts instead of empty rhetoric.
  If we are going to succeed, as the American people want us to do in 
order to avoid a war in Iran, then at some point all of us have to act 
like statesmen, not candidates. We need to be clear-eyed about what we 
have accomplished and what we have yet to do. That is precisely what 
Americans expect from their Commander in Chief, and that is exactly 
what Americans deserve--no less.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Shaheen). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                   Remembering Congressman Don Payne

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I rise to mourn the passing of a great 
man, a great leader, a proud New Jerseyan, and my friend, Congressman 
Donald Payne. I am saddened beyond words by his death. Personally, I 
have lost a close friend and the people of New Jersey have lost a 
tireless voice, a true advocate who spent a lifetime fighting for 
fairness, for justice, and for the little guy.
  Wherever there was injustice, intolerance or suffering, wherever 
someone was downtrodden by the more powerful and didn't have a fair 
chance, Donald Payne was there intervening. From his earliest days in 
Congress, he focused on New Jersey, but his influence was profoundly 
felt around the world. As a senior member of the House Committee on 
Foreign Affairs and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa, 
Global Health, and Human Rights, Donald Payne followed his passion to 
restore democracy and human rights in places where the suffering was 
greatest.

[[Page 2929]]

  If we asked him what his greatest accomplishment was--and there were 
many--he would tell us it was working on global health issues, 
cofounding the Malaria Caucus that he launched with First Lady Laura 
Bush, securing $50 million to fight drug-resistant tuberculosis, and 
$50 billion for HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria that literally--and I have 
heard these stories--literally saved whole villages in Sub-Saharan 
Africa, because that is the kind of man he was.
  He built a reputation as chairman of the Africa and Global Health 
Subcommittee for his integrated approach to Africa, combining health, 
development, economic growth, and improvements for a better quality of 
life. He once said:

       Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS are diseases that are caused, as 
     well, by poverty, and until we really start dealing with 
     poverty elimination, we are going to continue to have these 
     diseases that follow poverty. We cannot be serious about 
     development [assistance or engagement] without effectively 
     dealing with these three major diseases.

  He did everything he could to live up to those words.
  He could not ignore the fact, as he pointed out, that:

       . . . more than 29 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa 
     live with HIV/AIDS . . . that malaria and HIV together kill 
     more than 4 million people each year . . . that 90 percent of 
     them are in Africa . . . that, for millions around the 
     world--particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the global 
     malaria burden is heaviest--the disease is a daily reality, 
     an enduring epidemic that kills millions and impedes the 
     progress of entire nations . . .

  He believed in putting an end to the scourge of these diseases and 
helped broaden our focus in dealing with poverty, disease, and 
development as a single issue and always said: ``These are global 
problems that warrant a global collaborative approach . . . ''
  On World Malaria Day in 2010 he said: ``This is not an endeavor for 
which we lack the knowledge, skills or resources to win . . . ''
  Donald Payne was determined to win.
  When he put his mind to it, he could do anything. He believed he 
could change the world one village at a time, and he did because that 
is the kind of man he was.
  I served with Donald Payne in the House. I got to know him. I grew to 
respect his deep and passionate commitment to the institution and the 
people he served, his belief in the process as it was intended by our 
Founders, to bring all of us together, no matter what our politics or 
persuasion, to make a difference for his district, for New Jersey, for 
the Nation, and for people around the world.
  Donald considered himself hugely lucky to serve. He saw it as a honor 
and he made a difference because that too is the kind of man he was. 
Donald Payne was a Congressman's Congressman. To me he was what public 
service is all about. He embodied the concept of Congress, the assembly 
of a few good people committed to the betterment of all of us.
  In his passion for these issues, he worked in common cause to bring 
together people who were often from totally different ends of the 
political spectrum. Many of us would refer to him as ``the great 
convener'' because he had the unique ability to bring together people 
of disparate beliefs on behalf of these issues he believed in and felt 
so passionately about.
  Don's career and accomplishments were exemplary. Before he was 
elected to Congress, he was an educator in the Newark and Passaic 
Public School Districts. He was the former national president of the 
YMCA. He became New Jersey's first African-American Congressman, 
winning election overwhelmingly in 1988, and was serving, at the time 
of his death, his 12th consecutive term--this year. He was a senior 
member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and he 
was a steadfast vocal advocate for early childhood education. He was 
instrumental in making K 12 education more successful and for making 
college more affordable. He worked to cut in half the cost of the 
Stafford loans and increased the Pell grants. He was a tireless 
champion of working families, always an advocate of increasing the 
minimum wage, always enforcing workforce protections, because that is 
the kind of man Donald Payne was. Through his life and service, he was 
a man of the people, and the people of New Jersey will never forget 
what he did for Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties or for the State as a 
whole.
  In the end Congressman Payne will be remembered for the dignity and 
honor he brought to this institution and the Congress and the district 
he represented, always putting the interests of the community, New 
Jersey, and humanity first, because that is the kind of man he was. 
Donald made New Jersey proud, and he will forever be missed by all of 
us who were touched by his warmth and compassion. I join my colleagues 
in mourning the passing of a great man.
  I visited Congressman Payne on Saturday at the hospital and talked to 
his brother, who said leaders throughout the world had been calling to 
inquire as to how he was. Leaders throughout the world mourn his 
passing. They knew how he touched the lives of their citizens.
  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Donald's beloved children and his 
entire family and all of those who were touched by him throughout his 
life. He will be missed and we certainly hope God will bless this great 
man who gave back much more than he ever received in life.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bennet). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________